The next iPhone: what Ars readers want from Apple

We asked you what you wanted from the next iPhone. You answered.

Yesterday, we put out a call asking you to tell us what you wanted to see the most in the next-generation iPhone. The response was huge: as of this writing, there are 235 comments and counting. Your responses ranged from the practical to the not-so-practical, and as usual, there was some lively debate about which features really matter to smartphone users.

Amid the disagreements, we were able to collect a solid list of iPhone feature requests from our loyal community. Some may show up during Apple's media event this Wednesday, while others may not arrive until next year (or ever, depending on the practicality). Still, here are the items that Ars readers report wanting to see the most in a future iteration of the iPhone. Apple, are you listening?

Home button: fix it or get rid of it

Complaints about the iPhone's home button were legion. Many users pointed out that their home buttons stopped working properly long ago, even on relatively new devices like the iPhone 4S. (This is a personal complaint of mine as well; forget trying to actually bring up the application switcher on the first, third, or even fifth try because the home button double tap doesn't work for me.)

But the responses were split between simply improving the mechanical functionality of the home button (requested by deepdreamer, HydrogenAlpha, Eddies in the ether, Phil Ta, and The Phazer), and getting rid of it altogether for something better (requested by Harun Makandi, Mossy, Rhonin, smcollins, Tsa Szymborska, and tokyojerry).

"Get rid of the home button and replace with a touch glass strip that can have multiple functions," Mossy wrote. "Now that I'm used to it on my Galaxy Note, it feels strange to ever need to press the home button. And yes, that home button does die."

Waterproof that iPhone

Wouldn't it be glorious if all of our electronic gadgets could automatically repel water droplets upon contact? Sadly, that is not the case, but several Ars readers (Verbal_kint, aaronb1138, Uxorious) are hoping Apple eventually makes the iPhone waterproof—or at least more waterproof than it is currently. "How long did it take before digital watches started getting water resistance ratings?" aaronb1138 asked.

Standardize on Micro USB

Rumors have been flying fast and furious in recent months about Apple's plans to redesign the iPhone's dock connector. Will it be 19 pins, 9 pins, or something else entirely? Now may be the right time to implement such a change, but it seems there are still too many competing theories on what the next dock connector will look like and what its purpose will be.

There is one option that Ars readers seemed to zero in on, though: Micro USB. Europe recently standardized on Micro USB for all phones sold within the EU, and even Apple makes its own Micro USB to 30-pin adapter in order to appease regulators. But wouldn't it be nice if the iPhone simply came with Micro USB built-in, freeing us from proprietary Apple connectors? That's what several of you (kot_matroskin, Nilt, and allwrong) wanted, though we're inclined to guess that Apple likes its licensed accessory ecosystem and won't be adding this just yet.

Wireless charging

Inductive charging for our gadgets has been on many of our wish lists for years, but the technology has been slow to make its way into consumer electronics. Energizer released a Wiimote induction charger in 2009 and Nokia's two new Lumia phones, the 920 and 820, are both capable of wireless inductive charging. Does that mean the iPhone is next? It may not be the most likely of predictions, but it's certainly one that some Ars readers would appreciate seeing when the new iPhone is released. Ostracus, cromination, allwrong, and Attabay all said they'd like to see Apple add some kind of wireless charging feature to the device.

"[Inductive charge pad technology] fits in better with the aesthetics Apple is currently shooting for," Ostracus wrote. "Near field charging. Set it near your MacBook Pro and it auto charges," cromination added.

Near Field Communications

It has been rumored that the next iPhone will have NFC capabilities, though not all rumors agree on that front. One thing is for sure: NFC was one of the most requested items from our readership: deepdreamer, Mista2, jpcg, XiozTzu, secretknight42, msft0682, and Rhonin all listed it as one of their wish list items, even though NFC has yet to make much of a splash in the US and elsewhere.

Stronger glass body

Have you ever shattered the front or back of your iPhone? I have done both to my iPhone 4 and shattered the front of an iPhone 3G, too, for good measure. There are plenty of stories like that, unfortunately, which is why a number of readers (deepdreamer, Yhbv24, Mista2, Mossy, and carlisimo) named it as something they'd like to see improved in the next-gen iPhone.

"More durable glass front, metal back, like an iPad, curve it more like the 3G to make it more comfy to hold," is what Mista2 said he wants.

Miscellaneous

There were plenty of other great suggestions from Ars readers in the thread that may have only received a couple mentions apiece. For one, uno2tres seems to agree with me that a fingerprint scanner would be a cool idea—Apple did buy AuthenTec in order to obtain "new technology" for future products, after all. Mista2 wants to be able to rotate the iPhone's springboard in landscape mode like you can on the iPad in addition to having separate user profiles within iOS. Illidan, msft0682, Uxorious, and tokyojerry all want a MicroSD slot to be added to the iPhone, though that one is probably about as likely as Apple adding Micro USB in lieu of a new dock connector. And captainbld and The Phazer both mentioned they'd like to see some kind of FM radio support; the iPod nano already has this capability, so there might still be hope when it comes to the iPhone, too.

Jacqui Cheng
Jacqui is an Editor at Large at Ars Technica, where she has spent the last eight years writing about Apple culture, gadgets, social networking, privacy, and more. Emailjacqui@arstechnica.com//Twitter@eJacqui